These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
Get up to speed with what’s happening in the fastest growing region in the world.
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Changi Airport launches first online shopping campaign featuring tax- and duty-free products
Changi Airport has launched its first online shopping campaign, as the coronavirus drives more retailers to introduce virtual platforms to cater to shifting shopping patterns. Its campaign runs for seven weeks, from now until Oct 11, on iShopChangi. It will feature weekly deals for nearly 9,000 tax- and duty-free products, such as electronics, beauty items as well as wines and spirits. Shoppers can expect vouchers, rewards and deals of various amounts, subject to limited redemption quantities as well as other terms and conditions. For example, they can get discounts of up to 60 percent on select products on Thursdays. The campaign also involves livestream sessions that will feature personalities such as homegrown YouTube channel Night Owl Cinematics' Aiken Chia and Sylvia Chan, and lifestyle portal TheSmartLocal's Xenia Tan and Fauzi Aziz. They will take part in live challenges while reviewing product deals of the week, in each 40-minute session held at 10pm on Thursdays. Celebrities like actress Joanne Peh will also make appearances to share tips on their skincare and beauty regimes. – The Straits Times
Malaysians resigned to extension of RMCO
Malaysians have accepted the fact that the new norm is here to stay, and they will not object to an extension of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) beyond Aug 31. Lee Shi Ying, 25, an intern at a non-governmental organisation in Penang, said the pandemic had led her to change her lifestyle, especially when it came to ordering food. "Before the Movement Control Order (MCO), I did not use food delivery apps since I felt more comfortable using cash to make payments. But now, I use the apps often. "Previously, I used to recycle food containers and plastic bags after I bought food, but since the pandemic began, I just throw them away," she said, adding she was concerned about how the virus could remain on surfaces. She was commenting on Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba's remarks on Sunday that the ministry was recommending to the National Security Council to extend the RMCO beyond Aug 31. Nurul Amalina Ahmad Zulkifli, 26, a preschool teacher from Puchong, Selangor, has been going through a rough patch since the MCO began in March. "My husband's work as a badminton coach requires him to travel overseas a lot. But due to the closure of borders, his income has been badly affected. – New Straits Times
Facebook blocks group of 1m critical of monarchy amid govt pressure
Facebook on Monday blocked access within Thailand to a group with 1 million members that discusses His Majesty the King, after the government threatened legal action over failure to take down content deemed defamatory to the monarchy. The move comes amid near daily youth-led protests against the government led by the former military junta chief and unprecedented calls for reforms of the monarchy. The "Royalist Marketplace" group was created in April by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a self-exiled academic and critic of the monarchy. On Monday night, the group's page brought up a message: "Access to this group has been restricted within Thailand pursuant to a legal request from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society." Mr Pavin, who lives in Japan, said Facebook had bowed to the military-dominated government's pressure. "Our group is part of a democratisation process, it is a space for freedom of expression," Mr Pavin told Reuters. "By doing this, Facebook is cooperating with the authoritarian regime to obstruct democracy and cultivating authoritarianism in Thailand." – Bangkok Post
Regions see spike in divorce rates amid COVID-19 pandemic
A number of regions in Indonesia have seen a significant increase in divorce rates during the COVID-19 pandemic with financial issues cited as among the main factors of the break-ups. The Soreang Religious Court in Bandung regency, West Java, for example, received more than 1,000 divorce requests in June alone – higher than the average 700 to 800 requests they previously received in a month. A staff member at the court, Ahmad Sadikin, said the majority of the plaintiffs were wives who claimed they did not get financial support from their husbands. He further said that the number of divorce suits had drastically soared recently, overwhelming officials at the court. “[The court] even had to close its operation for two weeks in May [due to the piled-up cases],” Ahmad said on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com. South Tangerang in Banten, meanwhile, had recorded nearly 2,000 divorce petitions up to Monday. On average, the city sees between 2,500 to 3,000 divorce cases annually. “This year’s cases have increased by more than 5 percent,” Abdul Rojak, the head of the Religious Affairs Ministry’s South Tangerang office, said last week as reported by kompas.com. – The Jakarta Post
Abu Sayyaf leader hunted after 2 blasts rock Jolo
The first explosion from a bomb planted in a motorcycle rocked Jolo, Sulu province, just before noon on Monday. An hour later, a second blast came a hundred meters away, when a soldier accosted a woman wearing suspiciously swollen clothing, according to authorities. Fifteen people – seven soldiers, six civilians, one policeman and the “suicide bomber” – were killed and 75 were wounded in the two explosions. “Flesh, bones were scattered on the streets, mostly uniformed personnel,” said an owner of the pharmacy on Serrantes Street in Jolo. She preferred not to be named for safety reasons. Malacañang denounced the bombings “in the strongest possible terms.” “We likewise condole with the families and loved ones of those who died in these tragic incidents,” President Duterte’s spokesperson, Harry Roque, said in a statement. Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., the newly installed chief of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said the mastermind of the two blasts was the same person who got away from pursuing four Army intelligence officers in Jolo before they were gunned down on June 29 by policemen near the police station at Barangay Walled City in Jolo. – INQUIRER.net
Textile and garment exports set to continue declining
The Viet Nam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) forecasts Viet Nam's textile and garment exports will continue to decline by 14-18 per cent each month for the rest of 2020 over the same period last year. The group also said the total textile and garment export value for this whole year is estimated to hit about US$32.75 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 16 percent. Vinatex general director Le Tien Truong said the textile and garment will face greater difficulties in the final half of the year than the first half. “At present, there are almost no orders for member companies producing in the fourth quarter. That is a huge challenge for the group's business plan. Mask orders have reduced to low quantity while the price of this product has also decreased to the level that is the same rate with production cost," Truong told the Voice of Viet Nam (VOV). According to the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), the second quarter was the most difficult quarter for the textile and garment industry because
customers in major export markets such as the US and EU cancelled 30-70 per cent of orders because the markets were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Strong reductions in orders have caused higher inventories and increased pressure to pay workers, bringing more and more difficulties to textile and garment companies. – Viet Nam News
Activists demand Rong Chhun’s release despite Hun Sen’s arrest threat
A group of activists are continuing to protest for the release of prominent union leader Rong Chhun despite a warning from Prime Minister Hun Sen last week that there would be more arrests if the border issue is raised. Chhun was charged on August 1 with incitement to disturb social security over comments he made in a media interview saying villagers in Tbong Khmum province had lost land to Vietnamese soldiers. Some 20 protesters and supporters gathered on August 24 to submit a petition at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) to intervene in Chhun’s case. They also attempted to deliver the petition to the Embassy of Japan, but were blocked by police and security guards near Kbal Thnal bridge in Chamkarmon district’s Tonle Bassac commune. – The Cambodia Daily